<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>More Time by giantpanda</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24184000">More Time</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/giantpanda/pseuds/giantpanda'>giantpanda</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Moments in Time [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Good Doctor (TV 2017)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Fix-It</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 23:46:58</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,184</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24184000</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/giantpanda/pseuds/giantpanda</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"Neil slowly opened his eyes.  There was an ache in his abdomen and a slight weight against his side.  He blinked a few times.  If he was completely honest with himself, he hadn’t expected to open his eyes again."</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Claire Browne/Neil Melendez</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Moments in Time [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1751104</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>57</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>More Time</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>It has been five years since I last wrote any fanfiction.  Of course, I get inspiration from a doomed couple.  They had so much potential.   I also have no medical knowledge, so I purposefully left things vague.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Neil slowly opened his eyes.  There was an ache in his abdomen and a slight weight against his side.  He blinked a few times.  If he was completely honest with himself, he hadn’t expected to open his eyes again.  The last thing he remembered was Claire resting her head against his chest as he finally got to caress her face.  He remembered thinking how beautiful she looked, and how devastating it was that he never would get to know what it felt like to fully be with her.  Falling in love with her had happened so gradually he hadn’t even realized how deep his feelings for her went.  He started to realize it when he saw her with Dash, but was able to push them away.  As he lay dying, there was no reason to fight it anymore.</p><p>He turned his head to see what was pressing against his side and couldn’t help the smile when he realized it was Claire.  She had rested her head against his arm and was sound asleep.  He could see the tear tracks still on her face and wished he could take away all her pain. </p><p>He lifted his other arm to reach out to her.  He groaned as a sharp pain pierced through his abdomen.  Claire startled awake and stood up.</p><p>“What’s wrong?” she asked immediately checking his vitals and moving to check his injury.</p><p>He gently placed his hand on top of hers.  “Nothing,” he answered, his voice raspy.  She glared at him.  With a sigh, he added, “It just hurt when I went to move.” He squeezed her hand.  “Completely normal to have some pain after surgery.  I’m fine”</p><p>Part of him wanted the details, wanted to know exactly what they did to him so he could begin to figure out what would need to be done to get back to normal and what his recovery would entail. To find out how she had once again proved how incredible she is, because he had no doubt that he was here due to her brilliance.  The other part of him, the larger part, just wanted to be there with Claire, to convince her that he was okay, to remove that worried look from her eyes.</p><p>She gently pulled her hand away and continued to check out the surgical site.  “Last time you told me you were fine, you ended up collapsing on me.”  She shook her head, “I should have insisted that you came to get checked out sooner.”</p><p>“I would’ve just kept helping patients here.  I felt fine then,” he said, reaching for her hand again.  “I am fine now.  I have the second-best doctor in the hospital looking out for me.”</p><p>“Second best?” she repeated with a frown.</p><p>“You’re looking at the best.”</p><p>He breathed a sigh of relief when he got his desired result of a smile. He tugged gently on her hand to get her to sit back down.    Once she was back in the chair, he allowed himself to study her.  He could clearly see the exhaustion in her eyes, as well as her lingering fear.  He hated that he was the one who put that there. </p><p>He thought back to their last conversation when she had told him that she loved him.  He wondered if she was regretting telling him that, if she had simply said it because she thought he was dying.  He knew how he felt about her.  He tried for weeks to deny it.  Their platonic friendship hadn’t been platonic for him for a while now.  He knew she struggled with sharing her feelings and with relationships.  He didn’t want her to feel any pressure.  He wondered if maybe her confession of love had been as friends.  A feeling of dread settled in his stomach.  He needed to figure out what was happening between the two of them.  </p><p>Maybe just waking up from a trauma wasn’t the best time to have this conversation, but he couldn’t have it lingering over them.  He knew that he had a long road of recovery ahead of him, one that would be made easier with her by his side.  He also knew that their positions in the hospital would make it challenging.  But that was something to think about at another time.  Right now, he wanted to know if they both felt the same away about each other.</p><p>He squeezed her hand again drawing her eyes to his.  “We said some things before,” he took a shaky breath.  “Anything you want to take back?”</p><p>He was giving her an out.  A chance to take back her declaration of love.   She leaned back in the chair, an unreadable expression on her face. </p><p>“Actually, there is,” she said, moving her hand to interlace their fingers.   “I don’t hate your tattoo.”</p><p>“That’s it?” he asked, feeling as if a giant weight was lifted off him.</p><p>She nodded.  “Anything you want to take back?”</p><p>“No, you really are a terrible bowler,” he answered fighting back a grin.</p><p>She laughed. “Once you’re up to it, you can give me some lessons.”</p><p>He brought her hand up to his lips and gently kissed it.  “I’m grateful that I’ll have the chance to.”</p><p>“Me too,” she said softly.</p><p>He wanted to talk to her about the future.  What his recovery would look like, how they would deal with the fact that he was her attending.  But for now, he just wanted to enjoy the fact that he was alive and that they even had a future to discuss.</p><p>He was pulled from his thoughts when she yawned.</p><p>“You should go home and get some rest.”</p><p>“No, I’m fine,” she said fighting another yawn.</p><p>He glanced down at the hospital bed with a frown.  “I could try to move over so you can sleep here.”</p><p>“Sleep is not what I imagined doing in bed with you.”  Her face flushed as she seemed to realize what she said.  </p><p>“Really?” he asked with a smile, relieved to know that he wasn’t the only one who had thought about it.</p><p>She shook her head, “I shouldn’t have said that, I’m sorry.”</p><p>“Something to look forward to,” he reached up and caressed her face, grimacing as the motion pulled at his injury.</p><p>“You need to get some rest,” she said softly.</p><p>“So, do you.”  He gave her a smile.  “I’ll be here when you get back.”</p><p>His exhaustion finally caught up to him as he yawned.</p><p>She leaned over and pressed her lips against his forehead.  “I’ll stay until you fall asleep.”</p><p>He knew she wouldn’t leave but nodded his agreement anyway.  Hopefully next time he woke up they could begin to discuss the future that they had been given.  Last time he had looked at her before closing his eyes he regretted that they didn’t have more time.  Now, he knew that they would have plenty of time.  It wouldn’t be easy, but it would be worth it. </p><p>As his eyes fluttered closed, he heard her whispered, “I love you,” as she moved to rest her head against his arm.</p><p>The end.</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>